California Folk Music Copyright and Other Restrictions

The Library of Congress provides access to these materials for noncommercial
educational and research purposes and makes no warranty with regard to other
uses. The written permission of the copyright owners and/or other rights
holders (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) is required for
distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that
allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for
making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary
permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

The sound recordings were collected by a field researcher employed by the
U.S. Government under the auspices of the WPA from 1938 to 1940.
Transcriptions of the sound recordings were prepared by U.S. Government
employees. Generally speaking, works created by U.S. Government employees
are not eligible for copyright protection in the United States. Note,
however, that the persons interviewed or whose words were transcribed were
not employees of the U.S. Government. Privacy and publicity rights may
apply. While the Library is not aware of any copyright in the materials in
this collection, users should be aware of possible rights particularly in
the underlying works in the sound recordings.

The Library would like to hear from individuals or institutions that have
information about these materials or have additional information about their history.

The dust jackets of the sound recordings as prepared during the original
field work, read:

California Folk Music Recorded by The Music Department of the University of
California in Cooperation with the Archives of American Folk Song
[currently the American Folklife Center] of the Library of Congress Under
Works Progress Administration Official Project Number 665-08-3-30,
Unit A25